WikiLeaks, Email Privacy and The Secret Court Order

The Department of Justice delivered a “secret court order” to Google requiring that they turn over information from the email accounts of Jacob Appelbaum citing, The Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Appelbaum is a Wiki-leaks contributor and a target in the continued search by the government to discover everyone involved with Wiki-leaks.

We asked the What’s Trending panel if it should be legal for the government to have access to your private information?

Greg Grunberg started us off by making a joke about The Electronic Communications Privacy Act which was enacted in 1986, before the popular use of email. He quipped, “Are you sure it was not 1886?”

Kevin added some weight to the conversation by explaining that just because the mediums have changed, it does not alter our inherent reasonable right to privacy. He said, “No notification is given, whatsoever, when the government hops into your email.” He continued to express his concern by suggesting that we have no idea how often or to what degree the government is accessing our email.

Greg brought up that he has had a discussion with his son regarding iCloud. “Anything you do lives forever online…you have be careful who has access to that,” he said.

While Kevin feels the laws need to be updated, Greg made a point of bringing up how the government perusing our private data can also be used for good, like stopping terrorists. “If that stops some sort of a threat from actually becoming a reality, I’m all for it,” Greg said.

When do you think it’s acceptable for the government to view your emails?